A rendering of the possible development for the historic RKO Keith’s Theatre, located in downtown Flushing.

The $30 million deal, which had been in the works for more than a year, was brokered by Kenneth Zakin, the senior managing director of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Capital Markets. According to him, the time was right for Thompson to sell the theater, located at 135-35 Northern Blvd., after attempts to find an equity partner.

“I think this is just really a case of the stars being aligned,” Zakin said. “Jerry Karlik was very interested in the deal. He’s known [RKO Keith’s] all his life.”

Flushing Square development intends to work within the guidelines of a development plan approved by the Board of Standards and Appeals in 2011. That plan would construct a 407,173-square-foot, 17-story mixed-use complex that would contain as many as 357 residential units, 385 parking spaces, 17,000-square-feet of retail space and a community facility for seniors.

While the 85-year-old property will be redeveloped, the theater’s classic lobby will remain unchanged, as it was landmarked in 1984. The architectural team has not yet been designated, but Karlik is going to work with the team and his partners on making the units “attractive to the community he’s going to be serving,” Zakin said.

Karlik’s work in renovating landmarked structures has garnered much acclaim, such as his adaptive reuse of 888 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

His partners on this project include Eddie Ni, Min Ouyang and Ching Lam.

This sale marks the latest move in the ongoing saga of RKO Keith’s Theatre.

The theater was designed by architect Thomas Lamb and built in 1928. For about 60 years, the RKO Keith’s started out hosting vaudeville shows in the 1920s and moved on to films for the next few decades. It closed in 1986 and has been vacant ever since.

The theater was previously owned by Tommy Huang, a developer who pleaded guilty to endangering public health after he let 200 gallons of oil leak from the building’s furnaces into its basement.

- See more at: http://queenstribune.com/new-owners-for-historic-rko-keiths/#sthash.t7P4grhu.dpuf

Downtown Flushing: Where Asian Cultures Thrive

Slide Show | Living in ... Downtown Flushing, Queens Flushing is home to a large Asian population, bustles with commerce and has sought-after residential properties.

OCTOBER 1, 2014

Living In

By VERA HALLER

People who live and work in downtown Flushing sometimes call it “the Chinese Manhattan.” Both downtown Flushing, in north-centralQueens, and Manhattan are centers of commerce, transportation and finance, and both have shiny new buildings with expensive and sought-after condominiums.

“Where else but Manhattan are you going to find a place that stays up 24/7,” said Councilman Peter Koo, who represents Flushing and lives downtown. He also owns several pharmacies there. “It’s really convenient. You can do anything imaginable in a 10-block area.”

Downtown Flushing is known for its restaurants, bakeries and Asian specialty stores and its easy transportation into Manhattan. The No. 7 subway line ends at Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue, in the center of the neighborhood, and the Long Island Rail Road has a station near the No. 7 train. Dozens of bank branches do business on the main avenues, and a new shopping mall, the Shops at SkyView Center, is fully rented out to national retailers.

The neighborhood has the feel of an Asian city. During the morning rush hour, hawkers sell Chinese-language newspapers to commuters heading to the No. 7 train. Colorful fruit and vegetable displays add to the area’s character.

Residential life centers on a five- to six-block radius around the intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue. Brick apartment buildings, some dating to the 1920s, line side streets, along with newer condominium buildings that offer views of Manhattan in the distance, beyond La Guardia Airport.

Real estate agents say that notwithstanding the congestion and noise, many people want to be in the middle of downtown Flushing’s action.

From a real estate perspective, “Queens, in general, is really taking off” and “Flushing is the epicenter,” said Michael Dana, the president of Onex Real Estate Partners, the developer of the Shops at SkyView Center as well as of Sky View Parc, the luxury condos above the center at College Point Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue. All 448 Sky View Parc condos have been sold, and early next year construction will begin on a second phase, adding 250 more units by mid-2016, Mr. Dana said.

Another sign that developers are bullish on Flushing is a big project that broke ground earlier this year: Flushing Commons. On a five-acre site that was a parking lot, it will include a town square, commercial space and 600 residential units. The first phase is set for completion in 2017.

Downtown Flushing’s appeal as a residential neighborhood lies in its concentration of Asian life and culture. While Chinese predominate, there is a sizable Korean community, with its businesses centered around Union Street.

Real estate agents say people seeking to live in the area include Chinese-Americans moving from other New York neighborhoods, new immigrants looking to be close to relatives, wealthy Chinese buyers investing in property to rent out and empty-nesters downsizing from suburban homes.

“They would rather be in a two-bedroom apartment in Flushing than a house onLong Island where they feel isolated,” Councilman Koo said. “Everything is here, and they can speak the language.”

The 2010 census put the population of Flushing, encompassing an area beyond downtown, at 72,000 — 69.2 percent Asian, 14.9 percent Hispanic, 9.5 percent white and 4.2 percent African-American. A 2013 Department of City Planning report that looked at new immigration patterns found about two-thirds of Flushing’s population was foreign-born.

Most properties for sale downtown are condominiums, ranging from modest units in older buildings to million-dollar-plus apartments in newer ones.

Wesley Yeager, 64, a consulting engineer, put a deposit on a three-bedroom penthouse in 2009 at Sky View Parc before the complex was built. Living then in suburban New Jersey, he wanted to move to New York City for his work. He was seeking value for money, and wooing his companion, Dr. Qinghong Huang, who is Chinese and has an internal medicine practice in Elmhurst.

“My thought was to buy a really nice place where she would feel comfortable,” Mr. Wesley said. The couple moved into the Flushing condo, which cost $1.25 million, in 2012.

“I came to Flushing and fell in love with the community,” he said. For Dr. Huang, he added, it is “the best of both worlds — foods of her childhood and freedoms of America.”

What You’ll Pay

A search in late September of downtown Flushing listings on the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island, which covers Queens, turned up only a few dozen properties. Inventory is tight, said George Fang, an agent with RE/MAX Universal Real Estate who works in downtown Flushing. “If the price is right, it is going to sell.”

Sales prices range from $192,000 for a one-bedroom one-bath co-op in a 1957 brick building on Barclay Avenue to $1.28 million for a six-bedroom duplex in the new Kings Development building on Prince Street. In the middle are one- and two-bedroom apartments in older buildings selling for $250,000 to $500,000.

On the high end of the rental market is a four-bedroom penthouse in the sleekArcadia Condo building on Main Street that Fanny Wang, a sales representative with the Wing Fung Home Realty Group, said she is seeking to rent for $7,000 a month. One-bedroom condo rentals in Victoria Tower on Sanford Avenue, where she is a listing representative, range from around $2,200 to $2,500 a month.

Mr. Fang said he believes prices in downtown Flushing now exceed pre-recession levels. He said a two-bedroom apartment that sold for $230,000 to $250,000 in 2007 would be priced now at $250,000 to $300,000.

The Commute

The No. 7 subway line is the main conduit to and from downtown Flushing. An express No. 7 train during the morning rush hour takes around 40 minutes to get to Times Square. The Long Island Rail Road is another option; trains from the Flushing Main Street station take around 20 minutes to Penn Station. About 20 bus lines serve the neighborhood and transport commuters from outlying areas to the No. 7 line. Major highways and airports are in proximity to the neighborhood.

The Schools

Public School 20 John Bowne, at 142-30 Barclay Avenue, has 1,437 students in prekindergarten through Grade 5. It received a B on its latest Department of Education progress report. Students at Flushing High School, which has 2,400 students in grades 9 through 12, recorded average SAT scores in 2013 of 397 in critical reading, 424 in math and 383 in writing, compared with citywide averages of 437, 463 and 433.

What to Do

The shops and restaurants of downtown Flushing are a huge draw for residents and outsiders alike. Some of the most interesting excursions are to mini-malls tucked into buildings off Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue. For example, the New World Mall has stores selling groceries, cosmetics, housewares and electronics on its upper floors. In the basement is a huge food court where dozens of stands sell stir-fries, soups, dumplings, bubble teas and hand-pulled noodles. The Shops at SkyView Center is a more modern and Western-style mall where shoppers can choose from any number of national retailers and restaurant chains.

Downtown Flushing is within walking distance of the Queens Botanical Gardenand is one subway stop from Citi Field, where the New York Mets play, and the U.S.T.A. Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where the U.S. Open is held. For cultural events, Flushing Town Hall presents a rich program of global arts.

The History

Flushing was the site of the drafting of a document believed to be one of the earliest in American history proclaiming the right to religious freedom. The document, theFlushing Remonstrance, signed by a group of 30 local residents in 1657, was a response to a decree against Quakers by Gov. Peter Stuyvesant.

Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. Announces New Land Acquisition and Development Project in New York

August 1, 2016

BEIJING, Aug. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. ("Xinyuan") (XIN), an NYSE-listed real estate developer and property manager primarily in China and recently in other countries, today announced that its U.S. development arm, XIN Development Group International, Inc. ("XIN" and collectively with Xinyuan, the "Company") has acquired a parcel of land, located at 135-35 Northern Blvd in Flushing, Queens, New York for US$66.0 million. This project is within walking distance from the subway train #7 that connects commuters directly to midtown Manhattan. The land allows for a mixed use development comprising approximately 372,598 gross buildable square feet (34,615 square meters) with approved plans.

The property was formerly a performance theater with a landmarked interior known as RKO KEITH'S Theater. Designs for the buildable development have been prepared by the architectural firm of Pei Cobb Freed with plans for 269 modern condo residences that include amenities such as a 24-hour doorman, gym, tenant lounge, 305 space parking garage and landscaped courtyard as well as a large ground-floor and second-floor retail space. XIN expects to begin construction on this property as the Company's Oosten project construction comes to completion. Together with the Company's Oosten project in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the project in midtown, Manhattan, this project would give the Company approximately one million square feet of buildings under construction in three boroughs in New York City.

Mr. Yong Zhang, Xinyuan's Chairman, commented, "We are very pleased to be developing our third major project in the New York residential real estate market. The location for this project in downtown Flushing is ideally situated particularly as there is a shortage of inventory in the higher-end condominium segment. Given the location of this project, we expect it will be appealing to both local and foreign buyers and investors. We believe our new project will become a unique site in downtown Flushing and a successful project for our Company."

Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. ("Xinyuan") is an NYSE-listed real estate developer and property manager primarily in China and recently in other countries. In China, the Company develops and manages large scale, high quality real estate projects in over ten tier one and tier two cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Jinan, Xi'an, Suzhou, among others. Xinyuan was one of the first Chinese real estate developers to enter the U.S. market and over the past few years has been active in real estate development in New York. The Company aims to provide comfortable and convenient real estate related products and services to middle-class consumers.

With RKO Theater deal, Xinyuan makes big bet on Flushing

Chinese developer pricing 269 condos at between $1,150 and $1,300 a foot

Chinese developer Xinyuan Real Estate is bringing 269 condominiums to a long-shuttered historic theatre in Flushing, where it hopes to push the boundaries of pricing in the area.

The firm paid $66 million, or just over $175 per square foot, for the RKO Keith’s Theater at 135-35 Northern Blvd, a site that will allow the Beijing-based developer to build a tower of just under 375,000 square feet. Sources familiar with the project said that the condos will be priced between $1,150 and $1,300 per square foot.

The seller, Jerry Karlik’s JK Equities, paid $30 million for the property in 2013, and secured a tax break as well as permits to build a 269-unit project. JK Equities was the latest in a long line of investors who bought and sold the property without actually kicking off construction.

This will be Xinyuan’s third condo project in New York, following the under-construction, 216-unit Oosten in South Williamsburg and a planned 100-unit projectat a former Speedway gas station site in Hell’s Kitchen. It was the first mainland Chinese developer to take a crack at New York’s condo market, and with this project, will have just under 1 million square feet of condo development in its pipeline.

“We’re still long on condo,” said Omer Ozden, who as CEO of RockTree Capital represents Xinyuan’s interests in New York. “We saw the same things in the market that we saw in Williamsburg a few years ago,” he added, referring to a rapidly-gentrifying neighborhood that was underserved in terms of condo product. Xinyuan, which operates in the U.S. through its subsidiary XIN Development, is targeting wealthy mainland Chinese as well as first-generation Asian-Americans, Ozden said. According to 2014 census data, people of Chinese descent made up about 47 percent of Flushing’s total population.

At RKO, Xinyuan plans to tear down the bulk of the existing theater and put up a 16-story building designed by Pei Cobb Freed that will preserve the theater’s landmarked lobby and grand foyer. It is yet to select a brokerage to handle sales. The news of the acquisition was first reported earlier Monday by Bloomberg. Sources familiar with the area said developers have been buoyed by the success of Onex Corp.’s Sky View Parc, a 750-unit condo project that is doing brisk sales. Asking prices at that project start at $950 per square foot. Flushing Commons, a joint venture between F&T Group, the Rockefeller Group and AECOM Capital, is also said to be doing well.